We need the space: Land preservation should be a priority

Preserving farmland is an important issue for Cumberland County to tackle.

No one, except perhaps New Yorkers, wants to live in a concrete jungle. One of central Pennsylvania’s greatest assets is its natural beauty and access to rivers, trails, game lands and parks for recreation and enjoyment.

But the Harrisburg area is no longer rural. It has grown in population and business development in the last several decades and now has a distinctly suburban feel.

That’s why it is critical for local governments to plan and act soon to preserve the area’s greatest natural wonders.

Cumberland County will soon consider a proposal to create an Open Space Committee.

The idea came from outgoing Cumberland County Commissioner Rick Rovegno, an avid hiker who can often be found on weekends on local trails.

Tonight is his final commissioner meeting. The next board should launch this initiative — not just as a farewell to Rovegno, but more importantly, because it is a good idea.

The purpose of this committee is to prioritize what areas the county should target for preservation. Once there is a wish list of sorts, it is much easier to approach state and federal government agencies as well as big foundations for grants.

At present, the wish list is mostly done by local volunteer groups such as Cumberland Valley Rails to Trails. They do valuable work to preserve the trails that are closest to their hearts, but they are not always looking holistically at the county and region.

A better approach is to get together a group of hikers, hunters, Realtors, tourism folks, the Chamber of Commerce, land preservation groups and county personnel to debate and decide on priorities.

The big hurdle will always be funding for these kinds of projects. But Cumberland County is fortunate to be a growing county that has not seen the same kind of devastation as some parts of Pennsylvania, let alone the country, during the recession.

Putting the committee together would cost little, and the goal would be to obtain private, state and federal funding for the preservation initiatives.

The county has been at the forefront of farmland preservation, leveraging local and state dollars to ensure its iconic farms keep going. But keeping permanent open spaces is about more than just farms. It includes parks, trails and forested mountains as well.

As the county’s new board of commissioners looks to the future, open space should be on its radar. Once land is developed, it is much harder to get it back as open space.

America’s godfather of national parks, Theodore Roosevelt, said, “We have fallen heirs to the most glorious heritage a people ever received, and each one must do his part if we wish to show that the nation is worthy of its good fortune.”

Today, Americans and people from throughout the world come to the U.S. to enjoy national park land that was preserved a century ago.